What’s up people, this is Zo, Owner and Editor-In-Chief of ZoKnowsGaming.com and we recently got a hands-on with this year’s version of NBA 2K11 and to say that we are excited would be an understatement.

We met up with Brian Roundy, Brian is one of the coolest gaming PR’s in the business. We basically had free reign to check out any of the aspects of the game that we wanted and we did. The first thing we had to do was play one of the most awesome moments in NBA history, MJ’s Flu Game. For those of you not familiar, this was Game 5 of the 97 NBA final when the Chicago Bulls took on the Utah Jazz and Jordan was diagnosed with a stomach virus. After looking pale and weak at the beginning of the game Jordan went on to score 38 points and put on one of the most memorable performances that I have ever seen to this day. As the game started, Jordan really did look weak and he was visibly slower than he had been in previous games MJ challenges we kicked around. I will save the details on this mode for my full review but let’s just say that 2K did one heck of a job in capturing Jordan’s essence, everything is spot on with his mannerisms and overall swag.

Then we tried out the Slam Dunk contest which I have to say looks better than ever though I am still not great at the controls and the timing, but that’s just me. But in talking to Brian, it seems that the slam dunk contest in NBA 2K11 is much easier and much more awesome when you play it with the PlayStation Move and we believe him so we will have to give that a try. We can’t say to much here but I will tell you all that the thing that impressed me the most was the improved defensive A.I. In NBA 2K11 you can actually play real defense, in a basketball video game who would have thunk it? On a note not directly related to the game, I had to say I was impressed with the way that not only Brian talked about the game, but the way he talked about the way the rest of the NBA 2K team feels about the game. It seems that they really “get” it and they truly want to continue innovating in a space that some folks believe they won years ago. From listening to Brian talk, its apparent that from the PR team to the programmers, they all love what they do and are genuinely excited about what they do.

About To Crack Open Our Copy

For those of you wondering, I did ask what 2K thought about the whole NBA Elite situation and surprisingly they were very complementary of EA and what they were doing over there, though personally I am sure that they are feeling jumping for joy over how many extra copies they are going to sell this year, most units ever sold of NBA 2K this year mark my words. This year’s game has so much to do with all the improvements to the A.I. in Association mode. No more of that feeling like you are the only team in the league that is trying to win, this year teams actually have some personality and if a team thinks they are close then they will actively look for that last piece of the puzzle and conversely teams that are rebuilding will be looking to move older stars in return for younger players and draft picks.

I have got tons left to talk about but I just can’t, until Monday morning that is.It’s always tough with a piece like this, its not quite a review so we can’t say everything we want to say just yet. With that said though, that doesn’t stop you from telling us what things either major or minor that you want us to make sure that we look for and incorporate into our review which will be dropping at 8am on Monday October 4th, 2010. Be there.

I am the Co-Ceo of DLT Digital Media. We are a company that is focused on developing new and innovative web properties in addition to developing WordPress based web sites for others. But before I was all that, I was a gamer.